The results showed that the assessed parameters TDS, SSP, KR, and PI were found within the safer limits of drinking water as prescribed by the Pak-EPA and WHO. However, among trace elements, only Cd (0.03 mg L-1) was found above the permissible limits of 0.01 mg L-1 as given by the GOP-EPA (2008) and WHO (1996) at Shigri Bala spring 200 m away. Similarly, at 2 ft from the mouth of Chumig S1 spring, its concentrations were recorded 0.03 mg L-1, and at Benazir Chowk spring (100 m away), it was found 0.02 mg L-1. In general, the Water WQI demonstrates that springs have good water quality. Our findings are useful for the environmental protection managers and citizens of the Skardu concerned with the water quality of the springs.Arsenic (As)-contaminated paddy soil could result in elevated levels of As in rice plants and sequentially harm human health. The Fe3O4-modified biochar (NBC-Fe) prepared by the coprecipitation method was applied in a pot experiment to investigate its effect on mobility and bioavailability of As in soil and to reduce As accumulation in rice tissues (brown rice, husks, spikelets, leaves, stems, and roots). Compared with non-application (CK), application of NBC-Fe significantly increased the cation exchange capacity (CEC), decreased As availability, and raised the As concentration of crystalline hydrous oxide-bound fraction in the soil. The addition of 0.05-1.6% (w/w) NBC-Fe significantly reduced the As concentrations in brown rice by 9.4-47.3%, which was lower than the level set by the National Food Safety Standards of China (0.2 mg/kg). The NBC-Fe treatment decreased As concentrations in iron plaque (DCB-As), and the DCB-As had the very significant correlations (P? less then ?0.01) with the As concentrations in different rice tissues (brown rice, husks, spikelets, leaves, stems, and roots). The NBC-Fe immobilized As to decrease As availability in soil and increased the amount and thickness of iron plaque to sequester As on the surfaces of rice root. This study demonstrates that NBC-Fe is a promising soil amendment for the remediation of As-contaminated soil, therefore reducing As accumulation in rice plant and safety risks for rice consumption.The prioritization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for monitoring programmes and/or environmental risk assessment (ERA) purposes is based on several criteria, including environmental occurrence data. However, data on API occurrence in Brazilian surface freshwaters are still scarce. The Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) provides several medicines free-of-charge, including medications that have bezafibrate, fluoxetine and levothyroxine as the API. Thus, our objective was to investigate the occurrence of bezafibrate, fluoxetine and levothyroxine in samples collected at sampling sites included in the surface freshwater monitoring program of the São Paulo State Environmental Agency (CETESB); caffeine was also included in the analysis because it is commonly used as an anthropogenic marker of aquatic environment contamination. Monitoring results showed that levothyroxine was not found in any of the analysed samples. Caffeine was ubiquitous in the analysed samples, thus indicating anthropic contamination in the studied water bodies. Caffeine and bezafibrate presented risk quotient (RQ)??1 were found in all water samples in which this API was found, indicating a potential risk for freshwater pelagic biota. Thus, fluoxetine should be regulated in São Paulo State in order to protect the aquatic biota. Additional occurrence studies in other Brazilian states are still needed to evaluate if fluoxetine is a nationwide pollutant.This review presents compiled results of complex biomonitoring studies that have been conducted in the Holy Cross Mountains, south-central part of Poland, since the 1990s. The significance of these studies results from several aspects (i) a number and a variety of plant organisms used, e.g., mosses, lichens, coniferous and deciduous trees, and their tissues (wood, bark, needles, leaves, the aboveground parts of several vascular plants); (ii) applications of a broad scope of instrumental methods aiming at determining major and trace elements (including rare earth elements), organic compounds (PAHs, PCBs, phenols), and stable sulfur isotopes (δ34S); and (iii) different methodological and environmental issues addressed. The comparison and interpretation of results derived from seventeen sampling campaigns carried out between 1994 and 2017 are a valuable source of information on the following (i) bioaccumulative properties of organisms used in air quality monitoring, (ii) identification and variations of local and regional pollution sources and geochemical landscape patterns and processes over years, and (iii) establishing environmental factors that variously affected chemical composition of plants growing under physiological stress, including roadside vegetation and plants from acid mine drainage areas.Waste copper slag contains abundant valuable metal element Fe, and residual elements such as Cu, As, Pb, Zn, and Mo. Simply stockpiling or landfilling would waste valuable metal resources and cause contamination due to the leachable harmful elements. In this paper, the HJ/T299-2007 test and TCLP test have been utilized to evaluate the leaching toxicity of waste copper slag, while the sequential extraction procedure was carried out to investigate the different chemical speciation and the bioavailability of the residual metal elements in the waste copper slag. The results show that Pb in the waste copper slag exceeds the regulatory value of TCLP in the leaching tests, which means that the waste copper slag may contaminate the surrounding environment. According to the characteristics of the waste copper slag, the residual metal elements are mainly wrapped by the fayalite or silicate matrix. Cu and Fe are mainly in the form of crystalline iron-manganese oxide by the sequential extraction procedure, while Mo, As, and Zn are mainly in the residual form. Pb mainly exists in the form of carbonate, which is easy to be extracted. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/solutol-hs-15.html The orders of the apparent mobility and potential metal bioavailability of the selected residual metals are Pb&gt;Cu&gt;Zn&gt;As&gt;Mo&gt;Fe.